Low energy street lights

From Greenlivingpedia, a wiki on green living, building and energy

In Victoria, Australia, every night more than 300,000 street lights are switched on.

Switching to greener globes (such as LEDs) would cost about $80 million.

Ownership of streetlight infrastructure varies between local councils. Victoria's deregulated power system has complicated matters as distributors own power poles and lights, while councils pay for electricity use and maintenance.

Some councils, such as Nillumbik Shire Council in north-east Melbourne, have already budgeted for low-energy lights, but are asking for more money from the State Government.

Street lights currently constitute about one-third of total emissions for local councils.

Local tests of the low-energy lights, which are already used in parts of NSW and South Australia, have shown they consume about a third of the energy for the same output as the current 80-watt mercury vapour lamps.